Distributor for seeds and the like



May 2, 1950 FIG? 2 L. A. PAIANDAK msmxsuroayogsz-mns AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 11, 19 9 VE N 70/? /2 LOU/S A. PAZANDAK Patented May 2, 1950 DISTRIBUTOR FOR SEEDS AND THE LIKE Louis A. Pazandak, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to Excel Products, Minneapolis, Minn., a copartnership consisting of Louis A. Pazandak and Harry E. McGinty Application February 11, 1949, Serial No. 75,925

9 Claims. (Cl. 27512) The purpose of the invention is to provide a distributor for small particles, such, for example, as seeds, sand, salt, etc.

The distributor essentially incorporates a reservoir for small particles, a feed cup below the reservoir for receiving the small particles by reason of their gravity flow through an outlet opening in a lower portion of the reservoir, dispersing arms for the small particles below and adjacent to the reservoir and above and adjacent to the feed cup, and means supporting the dispersing arms for rotative movement.

Particles loaded into the reservoir are gravity fed to the feed cup, which is constructed and arranged relative to the reservoir and the dispersing arms to be capable of both preventing overflow and of causing quantities of the particles to be deposited to the feed cup and situated at the elevation of said dispersing arms, above said feed cup, in response to gravity feed of the particles, and the particles are ejected from the distributor in response to rotative movement of the dispersing arms. The construction and arrangement are such that gravity feed causes the particles to be built up in or on the feed cup substantially to the level of the dispersing arms, and with ejection of particles by said dispersing arms there is concurrent feed of particles up to the level of the dispersing arms.

The disclosure herein is of a distributor devised to be hand transported and operated. Rotative movement of the dispersing arms in one direction is manually accomplished, potential imparted to a biasing means in response to manual actuation of said dispersin arms, and rotative movement of the dispersing arms in opposite direction is accomplished by the biasing means. In an instance when a distributor according to principles of the invention is power actuated and/or conveyed along the ground, rotative movement of the dispensing arms can be accomplished in any convenient manner suitable to the operating conditions.

In the accompanying drawing forming of this specification,

Fig. l is a. side elevational view of a distributor incorporating the features and characteristics of the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, taken on line 2--2 in Fig. 1.

With respect to the drawing and the numerals of reference thereon, a'reservoir of the distributor is constituted as a hollow body and a hopper ll contiguous with a lower portion of said hollow body. An opening through a lower pora part tion of the hopper ll, disposed concentrically of the hollow body In, is indicated [2.

A frame of the distributor consists of a post l3, rigidly secured, as at M, to the hollow body ID at a side thereof in perpendicular relation to the wall of the hopper ll bounding or defining the opening I2, an upper extension l5 of said post rigidly supporting an upper bearing and grip member it of the frame disposed above and in spaced relation to the reservoir in perpendicular relation to the post, and a lower extension I! of said post rigidly supporting a lower bearing and suupporting member E8 of said frame disposed below and in spaced relation to the reservoir in perpendicular relation to the post and in alined relation with the upper bearing and grip member iii in direction longitudinally of said post.

A feed cup l 9 is fixedly supported, as at 20, upon the lower bearing and supporting member l8 to be situated below and in spaced relation to the wall bounding or defining the opening l2 through the hopper H. The feed cup i9 is a vessel the concave side of which faces upwardly, and as disclosed the upper portion of said feed cup includes an annular flange 2! in parallel, concentric, surrounding relation to said wall bounding or defining said opening I2.

An actuator shaft 22, in spaced, parallel relation to the post l3 and in perpendicular, concentric relation to the annular flange 2i, has its upper end rotatably mounted, as at 23, in a part rigid with the upper bearing and grip member I 6 and its lower end rotatably mounted, as at 24, in a part rigid with the lower bearin and supporting member IS. A drive screw element, constituted as an integral part of the actuator shaft 22 situated generally above the reservoir in adjacent relation to the upper bearing and grip member I 6, is indicated 25.

An actuator bar 26, disposed above the reser voir in perpendicular relation to the post is and the actuator shaft 22, includes an outer end portion mounted upon the upper extension iii of said post for slidable movement longitudinally thereof, and an inner end portion of said actuator bar rigidly supports a nut 21 which receives the drive screw element 25 in such manner as to cause the shaft 22 to be rotated in one direction in response to upward sliding movement of the actuator bar 26 along the upper extension of the post and to be rotated in opposite direction in response to downward sliding movement of said actuator bar along said upper portion of said post. The construction and arrangement are such that downward sliding movement of the actuator bar is limited by reason of its engagement with an upper portion of the reservoir at the location of the post.

A compression coil spring 28, surrounding the drive screw element 25 and having its upper end engaged against the upper bearing and grip member l6 and its lower end engaged against the nut 21, normally retains the actuator bar at its lowermost position, as in the drawing.

A sleeve 29, rigid with the nut 2'! and extending downwardly therefrom in surrounding relation to the actuator shaft 22, is slidably mounted on said actuator shaft to preclude the possibility of tilting or binding of the actuator bar 26.

The distributor as illustrated and described is to be manually carried from place to place, and also manually operated to cause the actuator shaft 22 to be rotated in one direction. To accomplish manual rotation of said actuator shaft,

the upper bearing and grip member l6, serving as an upper handle of the distributor, can be placed within the palm of the hand while the actuator bar 26, serving as a lower handle of said distributor, is grasped by the fingers and forcibly moved upwardly toward said upper bearing and grip member. Evidently, upward movement of said actuator bar will be arrested when the compression coil spring 28 becomes collapsed, and upon release of the actuator bar, after completion of its upward sliding movement, said compression coil spring will react to cause said actuator bar to be returned to its normal position and the actuator shaft to be rotated in direction opposite that in which said actuator shaft was rotated in response to manual operation of the actuator bar.

A hub 38, fixed, as at 3i, on the actuator shaft 22 and situated within the opening l2 through the hopper ll, rigidly supports circumferentially spaced, radially extending dispersing arms 32 which are between the lower portion of the hopper H and the upper portion of the feed cup [9 in adjacent relation to both said hopper and said feed cup and in parallel relation to the annular flange 2| of the feed cup. As shown, each of the dispersing arms 32 is of cylindrical configuration and extends to position beyond the confines of said feed cup. 7

An agitator 33, rigid with the hub 30 and extending upwardly into the reservoir, is for assisting gravity in the accomplishment of feed of small particles from the hopper II to the feed cup I9.

While the distributor can be put to use to spread small particles of any nature over a surface, it has been devised to be especially useful in the sowing of seed. The seed builds up in or on the feed cup substantially to the level of the dispersing arms, and remains at a fixed level as long as the actuator shaft 22 is inoperative. The construction and arrangement are such that gravity build up of seed in or on the feed cup will be to a fixed level, as predetermined, after each removal of seed from said feed cup, and also such that there will be no overflow or removal of seed from the distributor while the actuator shaft 22, and hence the dispersing arms 32, are inoperative. Upon ejection of seed from from the distributor, in response to rotative movement of said dispersing arms, there will be concurrent feed of seed from the hopper to the feed cup up to the predetermined level.

A distributor or seeder according to the invention can be employed to evenly deposit small particles in any desired density. Operation of the device will be accomplished concurrently with .4 progress of the user over ground soil, or other surface, and the density of the deposit will be resultant of frequency of operation of the device as this compares with rate of advance of the user. The obtainment of a uniform pattern is due to accurate control of the dispersal of the small particles.

What is claimed is:

1. In a distributor, a reservoir for small par- I ticles having an outlet opening through a lower portion thereof, a feed cup below said outlet opening adapted to receive small particles by gravity flow from said reservoir, a frame securing said reservoir and feed cup in fixed relation to each other, an actuator shaft supported upon said frame for rotative movement and disposed in said outlet opening, dispersing arms for the small particles, rigid with said actuator shaft and extending radially therefrom, between said outlet opening and feed cup below and adjacent to the reservoir and above and adjacent to the feed cup substantially in parallel relation to an upper marginal portion of the feed cup, and means for driving said actuator shaft.

2. In a distributor, a reservoir for small particles having an outlet opening through a lower portion thereof, a feed cup, constituted as a vessel including a concave side facing upwardly, below said outlet opening adapted to receive small particles by gravity flow from said reservoir, a frame securing said feed cup in fixed relation to said reservoir, an actuator shaft supported upon said frame for rotative movement and disposed in said outlet opening, dispersing arms for the small particles, rigid with said actuator shaft and extending radially therefrom, between said out.- let opening and feed cup below and adjacent to the reservoir and above and adjacent to the feed cup substantially in parallel relation to an upper marginal portion of said feed cup, and means for driving said actuator shaft.

3. In a distributor, a reservoir for small particles having an outlet opening through a lower portion thereof, a feed cup, constituted as a vesf sel including a concave side facing upwardly and an annular flange in surrounding relation to said concave side and in concentric relation to said outlet opening, below the outlet opening adapted to receive small particles by gravity flow from said reservoir, a frame securing said feed cup in fixedrelation to said reservoir, an actuator shaft supported upon said frame for rotative movement and disposed in said outlet opening, dispersing arms for the small particles, rigid with saidactuator shaft and extending radially therefrom, between said outlet opening and feed cup below and adjacent to the reservoir and above and adjacent to the feed cup substantially in parallel relation to itsannular flange, and means for driving said actuator shaft.

l. The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said dispersing arms extend to position adjacent the outer confines of said feed cup.

5. 'I he combination as specified in claim 3 wherein said dispersing arms are circular in cross sectionand extend to position adjacent the outer confines of the annular flange of said feed cup.

6. The combination as specified in claim 3 wherein said dispersing arms include outer end portions overlying the annular flange of said feed cup.

'7. In a distributor, a reservoir for small particles having an outlet opening through a lower portion thereof, a' feed cup, constituted as a vessel including a concave side facing upwardly and an annular flange in surrounding relation to said concave side and in concentric relation to said outlet opening, below the outlet opening, adapted to receive small particles by gravity from said reservoir, a frame securing said feed cup in fixed relation to said reservoir and providing spaced apart bearing supports, an actuator shaft rotatably mounted in said bearing supports and disposed in said outlet opening and including an elongated drive screw element as part thereof, dispersing arms for small particles, rigid with said actuator shaft and extending radially therefrom, between said outlet opening and feed cup below and adjacent to the reservoir and above and adjacent to the feed cup substantially in parallel relation to its annular flange, an actuator bar mounted for sliding movement on said actuator shaft and rigid with a nut adapted to be slid longitudinally of said drive screw element to cause the actuator shaft to be rotated, and a compression coil spring biasing said actuator bar and nut longitudinally of said actuator shaft. 8. The combination as specified in claim 1 and an agitator arm rigid with said actuator shaf and extending into said reservoir.

6 9. The combination as specified in claim 1 and an agitator arm rigid with, spaced from and substantially parallel to said actuator shaft and extending upwardly from said outlet opening into said reservoir.

LOUIS A. PAZANDAK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 155,013. Dexter et a1 Sept. 15, 1874 428,999 Austin May 27, 1890 619,055 Taylor Feb. 7, 1899 829,423 Parrish Aug. 28, 1906 867,063 Lillie Sept. 24, 1907 883,564 Parrish Mar. 31, 1908 922,028 Parrish May 18, 1909 1,025,982 Johnson May 14, 1912 1,034,244 Johnson et al July 30, 1912 1,211,596 Kindt Jan. 9, 1917 1,373,667 Miller Apr. 5, 1921 2,171,308 King Aug. 29, 1939 

